Brodie rushed to Hana, his face pale with worry as she lay crumpled on the floor. He crouched down, gently helping her sit up. Her clothes were disheveled, torn at the seams-not by accident, but by her own trembling hands. He quickly adjusted them, his initial panic giving way to a simmering anger that burned hotter with each passing second.
His gaze darted toward Kayden, lingering just long enough to show the doubt and fury bubbling beneath his surface. But Brodie said nothing. He couldn’t find the words.
Neve, however, had no such restraint. She stormed forward, her sharp eyes darting between Kayden and Hana. Questions spilled from her lips like water from a broken dam.
“What happened, Hana? What’s going on? Who did this to you?”
The room grew heavy with the weight of her words. There were only two people in that room-Kayden and Hana. The unspoken accusation hung in the air, thick and suffocating.
Hana didn’t answer. Instead, she collapsed into Brodie’s arms, her sobs tearing through the silence. The sound was heart-wrenching, raw, and it echoed through the vast hall. It didn’t take long for the rest of the Scott family to arrive, drawn by the commotion. Within moments, the room was filled with relatives-each one wide-eyed, anxious, and desperate for answers.
No one spoke, but their expressions said enough. Everyone had the same question: What happened?
Vicente, always impatient, stepped forward. His voice was sharp, cutting through Hana’s cries like a blade.
“Hana!” he barked. “What happened? Speak!”
Her sobs softened at his command, and she slowly lifted her tear-streaked face. Her gaze drifted to Kayden, and for a moment, she froze. His calm demeanor, so at odds with the chaos around him, left her stunned. He stood there, unfazed, his hands shoved loosely into his pockets, as though he had no part in the drama unfolding before him.
The sight of his indifference sent a shiver through Hana. Gathering her strength, she raised a trembling hand and pointed directly at him. Her voice cracked as she finally spoke.
“It was him. Just now… Kayden… Kayden tried to… hurt me.”
The room froze. Her words were a bombshell, detonating in the center of the family.
Kayden? The golden boy of the Scott family? The one who bullied Brodie’s fiancee in the past, but always escaped unscathed?
The accusations were almost too shocking to believe. Almost.
Vicente’s jaw tightened, his fury barely contained. His voice was low, but the rage beneath it was unmistakable.
“Hana, tell me clearly-what did he do to you?”
He stepped closer, his hand gesturing toward Jason, the family patriarch, who stood silently at the back of the room. “Don’t be afraid. Speak the truth. No one who harms you will escape justice-not in this family, not under your grandfather’s watch.”
Hana hesitated, her hands shaking as she wiped her tears. “You can… you can ask him yourself!” she sobbed, covering her face. “I-I can’t say it!”
Vicente’s glare turned to Kayden, his anger now fully unleashed.
“Kayden,” he snapped, “what did you do? Explain yourself!”
Kayden met Vicente’s glare with a cold, detached smile. He let out a quiet laugh, the sound dripping with disdain.
“I’d love to know what I supposedly did, too,” he said smoothly, his voice calm and cutting. “Maybe Hana should enlighten us. I’m curious to hear her story.”
With that, he pulled out a chair and sat down, crossing one leg over the other as though he were settling in for a long, entertaining show.
The room erupted in outrage.
“He’s mocking us!” Neve shouted, her voice trembling with fury. “Look at him-he doesn’t even care!”
“Unbelievable,” someone muttered from the crowd. “He thinks he’s invincible, doesn’t he? Just because Jason favors him!”
“This is disgusting,” another chimed in. “He’s been nothing but trouble since day one. We should’ve dealt with him long ago!”
The accusations flew fast and furious, the anger in the room mounting with every passing second. But Kayden didn’t flinch. He didn’t even bother to respond.
“Enough!”
Jason’s voice thundered through the room, silencing everyone instantly. The family patriarch stepped forward, his presence commanding and unyielding. His sharp gaze swept over the room, settling finally on Hana.
“Hana,” he said firmly, “speak. Now.”
Hana hiccupped, her sobs briefly halting as she felt the weight of Jason’s words. Her eyes darted to Kayden, who sat silently, his expression unreadable. His composure unsettled her.
Taking a shaky breath, she began.
“Brodie brought him into the room earlier,” she said, her voice small and trembling. “Then Brodie got a phone call and left. Normally, it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to be alone together, but we’ve known each other since we were kids. I didn’t think it was a big deal.”
She held up a small, delicate grass butterfly, its fragile wings slightly crumpled. “He gave me this. It’s something he made for me when we were children. Seeing it… it made me emotional. I started reminiscing about our childhood, and we talked about old times.”
Her voice wavered. “But then, out of nowhere, he said he liked me. He said he’d liked me since we were kids. He told me I looked beautiful today… and that he wished I could marry him instead.”
Her hands balled into fists as she continued. “At first, I thought he was joking. But then he got closer. He touched my face and said he wanted to kiss me.”
Her breathing grew heavier, her words rushing out in a panicked stream. “I told him no. I told him to stop. But he didn’t. He got bolder. He said he didn’t just want to kiss me-he wanted to do that to me.”
The room was deathly silent.
“I tried to resist,” she said, her voice breaking. “I struggled. I fell to the ground trying to get away. That’s when Brodie came back. And then… and then all of you.”
She broke down into sobs, her face buried in her hands. “I never thought he’d do something so shameless. Not Kayden. Not here.”
The room erupted again, a cacophony of voices clamoring for justice-or blood. But Kayden didn’t move. His calm, unbothered demeanor remained, as though he were watching events unfold from a distance.
###